Sunday, April 19, 2015

Orly Orange Punch and Cult Nails Captivated

Orange Punch has long been part of Orly's core line, since before 2009 at least. It was re-released as part of the Hot Stuff collection and then again as part of the Halloween collection for 2011. It's a neonesque safety orange, very bold and very bright. I got this on ebay at some point and it's been languishing in my swatching chute ever since -- it's not very often that I feel the need to wear such an overt, in-your-face orange. But it's overcast, rainy and a bit chilly for April here in NC -- 49℉ at dawn this morning -- and I felt the need to warm things up polish-wise. This one sure did the trick!Application was kind of amazing, and I mean that in the best possible way because I was prepared for a sheer, runny nightmare of a polish. But no! The consistency of Orange Punch is very fluid with a thinner formula that reminds me a bit of Rescue Beauty Lounge's thin formula except not quite as perfectly self-leveling. It's very easy to work with, not runny as long as you don't overload your brush and goes right where you put it. You can work very quickly with a formula like this. Pigmentation is slightly on the sheer side but not overly so. Two coats will get you color coverage with visible nail line, three coats nets nicely opaque, even coverage. Cleanup is easy with some pigment travel but no residual staining as far as I can tell -- I didn't have much cleanup to do so your mileage may vary. Orange Punch dries naturally in longer than average time to a semi-matte/rubbery finish as befits its neon heritage. Looks great with a glossy topcoat.Photos show three coats of Orange Punch over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

Orly Orange Punch

This polish is actually much more feminine and flattering on the nail than I was expecting. It has a sort of dazzling floral charm, and the bright pop of color elongates my fingers. Quite the flirt, this safety orange!Then, just because I could, I decided to add glitter.

Captivated was released by boutique polish maker Cult Nails as part of the A Day at the Races collection in spring 2011. It's a delicious pinky orange coral glitter bomb, with a coral tinted transparent base in which is suspended a beautiful mix of teensy hex glitters in a ravishing bouquet of colors: gold, pink, orange, coral, some of them iridescent. Coverage with this polish is a function of the glitters as the base is transparent, but I've seen it worn to great effect with only two coats. It is an effervescent sparkler of a polish with a distinctly summertime vibe, great for fingers or toes. I crossed myself for luck and applied two coats of Captivated over the Orange Punch manicure. The consistency of Captivated is thicker, as suspension bases often tend to be, and a little gel-like but still fluid enough for an easy, self-leveling glide over the nail with a goodly bead of polish on the brush. It definitely took Orange Punch up a notch, giving it a blood orange flush glistening with tiny glitters. I'm thinking the glitter mix would probably stand out better over a deep pink base (as it is here), but it does very well with the orange. I didn't do any cleanup (you can tell, too) so I can't report on that aspect of the polish, but Captivated dries naturally in very good time to a surprisingly smooth finish for a glitter polish. A little bumpy, but not gritty.Photos show two coats of Captivated over my Orange Crush manicure above with a topcoat of HK Girl. Unfortunately this ended up a rather thick-looking manicure thanks to my heavy hand and the fact that by this time I had nine layers of product on my nails. It thinned as it cured and dried, though, and eventually ended up looking just great!

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated, bottle shot

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Cult Nails Captivated over Orly Orange Punch

Feels like I've got fireworks on my nails! If you'd like to see what Captivated looks like on its own, here are some great posts: The Polished Perfectionist, Beauty Judy and The PolishAholic. This polish has been out of production for a few years but with a little patience and effort you can still find it in blog and destash sales and it occasionally shows up on ebay, where I got mine. love,Liz